Unexpected
by vmarsaddict81385
Summary: LOVE..starts after Ruskie Business, although I've altered a few things from that episode as well but they're explained...I'm not sure how to summarize it without giving the whole thing away though so just read it and allow yourself to be surprised!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Here is the new version of the story... Chapters 1-4 are ready and I'll post the rest sometime this weekend.

Title: Unexpected (1/?)

Author: Bex81385

Pairing: Logan/Veronica, LOVE

Rating: Somewhere between PG 13 and R

Spoilers: Everything up to Ruskie Business, after that goes completely AU

Summary: An unexpected event shakes Veronica to the core and threatens to bring Logan and Veronica back together.

Chapter One

Walking down the hallways was a far easier task nowadays. She hadn't expected the 09'ers to lay off entirely, but it seemed as if they had. She suspected she had Logan to thank for that. He had stopped snarking at her, the public humiliation and the constant verbal bashing had ceased as well, and she surmised the trend had simply caught on. Logan's circle of friends had always been a group of sheep happily to merely follow. Not a single one of them would dare to make a move against him.

Helping Logan with his mother's case had proved to be more physically and emotionally draining that she'd imagined it would be. She was exhausted, possibly more exhausted then she had ever been. She chastised herself for forgetting that this was the kind of exhaustion that had always come with Logan Echolls. Being his enemy for the last year had been tiring, but nothing compared to being his "friend" now.

Her make-shift truce with Logan had not only thrown her for a loop but obviously surprised Duncan. She knew he was watching her carefully the day before as she hurried off to take care of Logan. It was obvious that Duncan hadn't expected the news of Logan still sitting in the Sunset Regent's Lobby to have been enough for Veronica to run off after him. Veronica rolled her eyes as she remembered his shock waning later in the evening when he initiated is newfound relationship with Meg.

Despite all the bitterness between them, she hadn't thought twice before wrapping Logan in her arms when the time came for him to finally admit his mother was dead. It hadn't taken long for her to realize that a public breakdown for Logan Echolls wouldn't be the best thing for him and quickly took him up to his room. Once there he assured her he was fine and that she should leave for the dance. She hadn't felt good about it, but Logan had forced her to go.

Besides, she had promised Meg she'd be there, and Logan kept saying he was fine, she'd rationalized. She should have known better than to believe him.

She wasn't surprised when he'd shown up at the dance trashed. She'd left him upset and in a room with a fully stocked mini bar, a drunken Logan was pretty much a given. Although the underwear had thrown her for a loop, if only momentarily. She had scowled at Leo when he spoke snidely of Logan and then refocused her attention on Logan, who was busy demanding the entire room 'Wang Chung'.

He looked devastated, the smile his actions would normally require never reaching his mouth. What was worse was that even in a room full of his "friends", she could tell she was the only one who noticed anything besides his attire and his drunken demands. Still she hadn't been sure how deep their truce ran, or if he'd even want it to be public knowledge, so she didn't know if she should try and help him or not. She couldn't remember ever being so relieved when Logan finally allowed Duncan to help him out of the center of the room.

However, she didn't miss the look both Duncan and Logan shot in her direction as they made their way out of the dance. Duncan's look was accusatory, clearly implying _'I thought you took care of this'_ . Logan's look, however, was apologetic, as if to say _' I tried and I'm sorry, but I'm just not strong enough._' Veronica found Logan's look to be the one that haunted her in her sleep that night.

Now, as she sat in class, her head lying on her desk while she rested her eyes, she still couldn't get that look out of her mind. The moment the bell rang she picked her head up and prepared to leave. She made it as far as the next row of desks before she was face to face with Duncan. She didn't even try to hide the look of surprise when he called for her to stop. He hadn't been happy with her the night before and he still didn't look happy with her now. "What?" she asked tiredly. She wasn't in the mood to deal with him. Especially when Duncan wasn't even bothering to hide his animosity, which Veronica was positive she didn't deserve.

"I thought you said you'd taken care of Logan last night?" he snapped slightly before adding, "and since when do you "take care" of Logan?"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "No, what I said was that I'd take care of him. I never said I'd done it. And I tried. It just didn't work out so well." she answered purposely ignoring the second part of the question.

"So your definition of _trying_ is to let him show up at the school dance in his underwear?"

Veronica scoffed angrily. "I had to leave him and come to the dance because I promised Meg I'd help her find out who her secret admirer was." she said shooting him a pointed look.

He could tell she was displeased with the way she had found out about his feelings for Meg. "I should have told you..." he started

She sighed."I don't care." she suddenly realized. She wasn't was angry about Duncan and Meg, she was angry at Duncan for being to busy planting secret clues for Meg to pay attention to his best friend. "She's my friend and I wouldn't begrudge her happiness for one second. Letting me be blind-sided like that though, Duncan, you used to have more class than that."

Duncan sighed and looked at the ground sheepishly. "If you don't care then why are you so angry right now?"

"I'm angry because you should have been there for Logan. Instead you're too busy playing secret admirer to realize your best friend needed you." she snapped before walking out of the classroom.

xxxxxx

He hadn't intentionally halted the 09'er's vendetta against Veronica. He just couldn't find it in him to keep hating her, and if the others followed suit then they did.

He knew that she cared about his mother. The same went for Lynn. His mother had always loved Veronica, and she never bothered to hide it. Veronica had always been welcome in their home, _before Lily died_, and she knew it. He suspected his mother's affection for Veronica would have been enough for her to help him all by itself, but he knew she also cared about him, despite all the horrible things he'd done to her or all the times he'd made it clear he hated her. She still cared about what happened to him. Logan wasn't sure that thought was supposed to comfort him the way it did.

Consciously he knew his hatred for her had been waning since it began. He knew it would never be completely possible to hate her, she'd meant too much to him for too long for him to really hate her. He'd hoped that as time passed he'd be able to, but she wouldn't let him. She made it clear that while he wasn't her friend any longer, she still wouldn't abandon him the way he had abandoned her.

From little things like finding out who was stealing his mother's identity for credit cards and picking him up outside of Mexico when Troy's car was "stolen" to big things like stopping Weevil from bashing in his face and helping him with Lilly's memorial video, she made it clear she was there for him if he really needed her.

He shouldn't have been so surprised that she was the only one who had taken the time to stick by him after his mother died. She didn't ask questions and she didn't hesitate to jump in with both feet when he asked her to help him prove she was still alive, and she didn't blink before pulling him to her when he finally realized she wasn't.

He had sobbed, like he'd never sobbed before, into her arms the night before. She didn't try to stop him or calm him down, she simply let him cry. She did however, drag him upstairs when she realized that photographers and reporters would more likely appear once the man they'd spent the day annoying behind the Sunset Regent's front desk started picking up the phone. She'd tried to stay with him once upstairs, but he sent her away, wanting to mourn alone. She'd made sure to tell him she was just going to the dance and if he needed her he could call and then she was out the door.

Later when he'd emptied the room's mini-bar and he'd gotten the idea to go to dance, he wasn't sure if he was looking for her or not. The alcohol in his system had apparently made him decide to go without pants, and as he embarrassed himself up on stage, he knew she was kicking herself for agreeing to leave in the first place. She'd looked at him and he could see the wheels in her head turning, trying to decide if he would actually let her help him in public, in front of all his friends. As Duncan's hands wrapped around his arm, gripping his tightly and pulling him offstage, he found himself wishing they were hers.

Shaking his thoughts of the night before away he looked up from his locker just in time to see her dart out of a classroom. The look on her face was enough to tell him she was angry and his eyes followed her as she stormed in the direction of her locker. His gaze left her and turned back towards the classroom when he heard the door open again only to see Duncan storm out after her. He turned his attention back to Veronica and watched as her face contorted in a deeper degree of anger as Duncan sidled up to her.

He knew better than to mess with Veronica when she was angry. The old Veronica hadn't been pleasant while angry, but new Veronica, Veronica 2.0 was way worse. It wasn't until he heard Duncan yell at her, in a way he never thought he'd see pointed in her direction, that he moved towards them.

xxxxxx

"Why did you just storm off like that? I wasn't done talking to you." Duncan snapped bitterly

Veronica looked up from her locker and shrugged. "Funny, I was." she said opening it and continuing to ignore him

Duncan sighed. "What did you want me to do? Come up to you and say 'oh by the way Veronica, I've been thinking about asking Meg Manning to be my new girlfriend'!? How should I have known that she would have you investigating her secret admirer. You didn't seem to upset about it last night at the dance, so what's the problem now?!"

Veronica slammed her locker shut and gaped at him. "What's the problem?" she snapped, then at his expectant look she added, "I already told you, Duncan! I don't care who you date. I don't care what you do. You made it perfectly clear that we're not friends! However, you're supposed to be Logan's friend! Where were you when he needed you last night?"

"I carried his drunk ass out of that dance, I took him home." Duncan snapped defensively

"Before that Duncan! Where were you before that? Where were you when he found out Lynn was really dead? Picking out flowers?" she yelled. "You were too wrapped up in yourself to see him, to see he needed help. You're too selfish to see anyone but yourself! He was falling apart and where were you?" she demanded before turning to walk away again

Duncan glared angrily before following behind her. Once he was in arms length he reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her back towards him.

Veronica looked at him shocked. She turned around and saw the hallways starting to fill up again as people headed to their next class. She thought once he saw all the people there he'd let go but his grip only got tighter. "Let me go." she said softly through gritted teeth.

Duncan said nothing and made no attempt to let her go.

Veronica looked at him again, this time looking more closely. He looked as if he wasn't even aware he was preventing her from moving. "Duncan..." she said more forcefully, this time not caring if they caused a bigger scene. Her arm was really starting to hurt. "Let me go."

Again, his grip tightened.

Now, she was scared. She'd never been scared of Duncan before, but he was really hurting her. She looked around, frantically searching for someone who would help her. "Duncan come on, you're hurting me." she whimpered. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw Logan walking towards them.

Logan took one look at the situation and his brow furrowed in confusion. It was obvious that Duncan was angry and Veronica was scared. He heard her whimper and her face twist in pain before he snapped into action. "Duncan." he said loudly, "Come on man, let her go."

Duncan looked over from where his gaze had remained locked on Veronica and over to Logan. He let his eyes rest there for a brief moment before turning back to Veronica. His grip didn't tighten but he still showed no intention of releasing her.

Veronica looked at Logan, tears finally reaching her eyes. "Help me." she said reluctantly.

Logan looked back and forth between Duncan and Veronica, almost as if helping her meant turning his back on Duncan, but then he heard her ask for help. Veronica never asked anyone for help, no matter how hard something got, she never gave anyone the impression that she needed help. She looked helpless and he could see she was clearly in pain. He couldn't simply leave here there, or stand there and watch as Duncan continued to hurt her. "Duncan!" he yelled loudly then noticed that the entire hallway had stopped talking and moving. They had now focused all their attention solely on the three of them.

Veronica knew everyone was staring at them, and normally it would have irritated her, but the only thing she could focus on was the pain shooting through her arm. Logan's outburst seemed to have startled him, because his grip tightened. She yelped in pain. She dropped her bag on the floor and started slapping at his hand with her own. "Let me go."

Logan watched her plead with and slap at Duncan for a few more seconds before he reached over to her arm and began pulling at Duncan's fingers. He was trying to pry his way through but it didn't seem like it was helping. Duncan's fingers were locked around her tightly and Veronica's arm looked dangerously pale. "Duncan!" he yelled again, "You're really hurting her, let go!"

Duncan suddenly released her. His sudden release had sent her flying backwards causing Logan to have to grab at her to steady her. He looked back and forth between her and Logan. Logan looked at him with something akin to disgust before turning his gaze back to Veronica. Veronica's eyes never left his own and he could see the look of terror in her eyes. He looked at her arm, where he noticed a purple bruise in the shape of his hand print forming on her pale skin. He looked back at her in shock before stepping back nervously. "I... I'm sorry." he sputtered out before quickly turning and taking off in the other direction.

Logan's heart was still racing, adrenaline coursing through his bodies at dangerous levels. He watched Duncan take off and then looked over at Veronica. She was trying desperately not to cry. "What in the hell did I just walk in on?" he demanded

Veronica shook her head nervously. People were still watching her, and she just wanted to get out of here. "Nothing." she said before leaning down to pick up her bag. She winced loudly as she pulled it over her shoulder.

"Nothing!" Logan scoffed "You're purple arm says otherwise. What did you do?"

Veronica's eyes frosted over in anger.

Logan couldn't help but shiver at the intensity of her glare. "Veronica..."

"Why do you assume that little scene was my fault? I didn't do anything!" she snapped bitterly before turning on her heels and storming off once more.

Logan sighed and watched as she headed in the direction of the parking lot. He turned to see the rest of the student body still standing in the hall silently watching him. "What? Like none of you have ever wanted to hurt Veronica Mars?! Show's over!" he yelled before running after her. _I never thought I'd spend my day chasing after Veronica Mars,_ he thought groaning inwardly.

xxxxxx

Veronica threw her bag into the back of the car before climbing in the driver's seat. Once the door was shut she broke down. She knew that Duncan's secret epilepsy caused violent rages and that he wouldn't realize they were happening or even remember them. She knew he'd never intentionally hurt her, and it wasn't until the very moment he'd snapped and grabbed her that she even allowed herself to entertain the possibility that he could have actually killed Lilly. That thought left a sour taste in her mouth. She laid her head down on the steering wheel and continued sobbing.

Logan walked past Veronica's car and could hear her sobbing. He walked over and stood directly in front of her window, thinking that she would see him and stop. He felt bad for accusing her of doing something to upset Duncan, when it was clear she hadn't. He had planned to keep walking away knowing she was angry at him. That was until he heard her gasp for air.

The memory of her not leaving as he did the same the night before flooded his mind. He looked around the parking lot looking to see if the Fennel kid she hung around with was anywhere in sight. Sighing when he didn't see him, he reached down and pulled on the passenger door of the pathetic excuse for a car she called her own open and slid into the seat.

Veronica yelled loudly when she felt someone reach out and touch her. She hadn't even heard anyone get in the car. She looked up at Logan anger racing through her veins. "What the hell are you doing in my car?" she snapped. He was the last person she wanted to see and her tone clearly told him that.

Logan rolled his eyes, and ignored her tone. "How's your arm?" he said reaching for her again. He was surprised when she allowed him to continue holding her arm as he looked at it.

"It's fine." she said curtly before snatching it away

Logan nodded. "It looks ok. It could be worse. If he had squeezed any harder he could have broken something." he said knowingly. Years of abuse from Aaron had pretty much made him the expert. "So what happened?" he asked again, this time with more concern for her in voice.

Veronica sighed softly. "I really don't know."

Logan looked at her curiously. He didn't understand how she couldn't know. She was there. "Were you two fighting?" he asked

Veronica looked at him annoyed. "If I said we were arguing would that justify it? Would Duncan and me arguing make this," she gestured to her arm, "ok?"

Logan shook his head without hesitation. "No not at all. Nothing you two were arguing about would make this ok. But, if you were arguing, it would explain why pacifist Duncan attacked you."

Veronica shook her head. "I've never seen him violent before." she said softly, "Have you?" she asked gently baiting Logan

Logan looked at her curiously. He wasn't so stupid that he couldn't realize she was interrogating him. He could practically see the wheels in her head turning. He could tell she was scared of Duncan, and if he were honest with himself and her he would be a little scared for her every time she was anywhere near Duncan from now on. He wished he could tell her no, that he'd never once seen Duncan like that, but he'd be lying, and he wasn't about to tell her a lie like that. Not when he knew her well enough to know that if she thought it would never happen again, she'd only end up getting herself hurt again. "Veronica, I think you should just stay away from him ok." he admitted looking anywhere but in her eyes.

Veronica looked at him sharply. "That's as good as a yes."

Logan looked at her guiltily.

"Why didn't anyone tell me that Duncan had gone all violent?!" she snapped already knowing the answer

"Because it wasn't any of your business!" Logan snapped back quickly. In his defense he never in a million years thought Duncan would hurt Veronica.

Veronica sighed. "If I knew he was going to go all violent I never would have..."

"Would have what? Started an argument with him?"

"I didn't start the argument with him. He started it."

"Why?" Logan asked curiously

Veronica shrugged. "He got pissed at me because you showed up at the dance drunk in your underwear."

"That wasn't your fault..." Logan said, immediately feeling guilty. If that was why they were arguing, it meant she was hurt because of his irresponsibility.

"I know!" she yelled, "But I said I'd take care of it when he told me you were still at the hotel and apparently that meant I was supposed to make you all better and make you forget about what happened."

Logan looked at Veronica sadly. She had tried. She really did. But there was no way she could have stopped him from getting trashed last night and showing up at the dance, short of her tying him to a chair. "I've only seen him violent a few times. Most times it was when he was defending you. I never thought he'd physically hurt you." he admitted

Veronica looked at him softly her anger disintegrating. "Most times?"

Logan sighed. "I saw him attack Jake one day."

Veronica's eyes widened in shock. "Before or after Lilly died?"

"Before." Logan said unsure of why she asked

Veronica sighed sadly and let her head fall against the steering wheel again. Having a hard time finding her voice to ask him to leave she reached for the ignition and turned the car on. She figured starting the car would tip him off that she was ready to be alone. When nothing happened she did it again. When the engine refused to turn over for the third time she sighed and dropped her head against the steering wheel over and over again.

"Veronica stop." he said softly then burst into a laugh when she managed to hit the horn

Veronica instantly stopped when the horn sounded. She looked over at Logan who was laughing loudly. "Stop laughing at me Logan. It's not funny." she said even as she started to laugh as well.

Logan laughed. "Yeah, it kind of is. You hit your head on your horn. How is that not funny?"

"I know I was there Logan." she said trying to start her car again

Logan sighed. "Come on. I'll drive you home." he said before he could talk himself out of it.

Veronica shook her head. "You don't have to..."

Logan opened his door and got out. "Just shut up and come on Ronnie." he said the endearment slipping out without a thought

Veronica stiffened at the endearment she rarely heard since Lilly's murder but got out the car and followed after him. Once they were settled in the Xterra she pulled out her cell. She smiled at Logan before putting the phone back up to her ear.

"_Hey V." _

"Hey. Can you do me a favor?" Veronica asked in her "you can't say no to me" voice.

"_Depends on the favor."_

"Do I ever say that to you Weevil?" she asked ignoring the look Logan shot her

"_Yes. All the time actually. Although, I was kind of hoping it involved me pummeling Duncan Kane for attacking you in the hallway." _

Veronica visibly stiffened. "You heard about that huh?"

"_Oh course I did V. Are you ok?"_

"I'm fine. And it doesn't involve that." she said nodding despite the fact that he couldn't see her.

"_Can I still do it though?"_

"No. Leave Duncan alone." she demanded "I need you to pick up my car. It won't start. It's still up at the school. If you could get it back to your uncle's shop..."

"_Got it. I'll see what I can do. Get you a good deal. Do you need a ride home or..."_

"No. I'm fine. Thanks Weevil."

"_No problem V. Let me know if your position on Duncan Kane changes. It would give me more than a great amount of pleasure to beat the hell out of him." Weevil said happily before hanging up._

Veronica smiled and hung up the phone. She looked at Logan who was eyeing her weirdly. "What?"

Logan shook his head. "Nothing I just forgot you were such good friends with the criminal element. That's all."

Veronica nodded sadly. "I'm not the same girl I used to be before Lilly, Logan."

"I know." Logan said his eyes never leaving the road.

"Can you just drop me off at my dad's office? I need to do a few things there." she asked softly

Logan nodded. "Yeah."

xxxxxx

They hadn't said a word since her request. The ten minute drive was easily the longest of both their lives. He pulled up to the building and waited for her to get out. She mumbled thanks and quickly got out the car and headed into the office.

Logan watched her get out of the car, a feeling of sadness washing over him. He knew that she had changed a lot and he knew that it was mostly his fault. It wasn't that he didn't like the new Veronica, he just wasn't sure how much he liked the new Veronica's dangerous friends, or the new Veronica's dangerous job. He sighed despondently and shifted back into drive. He was about to pull out the parking spot when he heard a scream. A scream that sounded like Veronica.

He froze for a moment, unsure of what he heard. When she screamed again this time he distinctly heard the word help and he wasted no time throwing the SUV into park and darting into the office. "Veronica!" he yelled after running in and seeing no one. He saw something shift from further in and ran into Keith's office. He saw Veronica backing up slowly his eyes trained on her the whole time. When she backed all the way into him he felt her body lean into him and then collapse. He quickly threw his arms around her so that she didn't fall.

The moment he felt her turn and press her face against his chest he took his eyes off her, and that was when he saw what she'd seen. His throat closed and his arms tightened around her as she sobbed into him pressing herself even further against his chest. After a moment of shell shocked paralysis, he swiftly lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the room and away from the sight of Keith Mars, dead on the floor with a knife sticking out of his back.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Unexpected (2/?)

Author: Bex81385

Pairing: Logan/Veronica, LOVE

Rating: Somewhere between PG 13 and R

Spoilers: Everything up to Ruskie Business, after that goes completely AU

Summary: An unexpected event shakes Veronica to the core and threatens to bring Logan and Veronica back together.

Chapter Two

Logan watched silently as the sheriff's office infiltrated the Mars' family business, with a terrified Veronica attached to his side. He held her gently but firmly, making sure she knew he was there just like she had the night before. He visibly shuddered as the thought crossed his mind that now both of their most cherished parents were gone. He wanted to tell her that it would all be ok, but he knew for her, it wouldn't be. Keith was the only parent she had left and now he was gone. Veronica hadn't spoken a word since her strangled cry for her, and he was starting to worry.

Logan had called Lamb, who didn't really seem all that concerned with the fact that Keith Mars had been found stabbed to death, by his daughter. He simply kept repeating his questions to Veronica. _What was he digging around in this time? Considering your father's lengthy list of enemies, any idea where we should start first? _Logan had finally gotten fed up with his insensitive questions and pulled Veronica away stating she was in no condition to be verbally attacked right now. Lamb merely rolled his eyes and sent Leo over to try and talk to her.

She hadn't been pleased when Lamb had forced Logan to leave her with Leo so that Logan could answer his questions. Leo was trying to coax words out of her but he wasn't fairing much better than Lamb. Veronica simply didn't want to speak to them. The only person she wanted to speak to was the one person she never would again.

"Come on Veronica. You have to talk to me. Tell me what happened." Leo said softly. He knew she was suffering. He knew how much Keith meant to her. He didn't know why Logan Echolls was with her, but he seemed to be the only person Veronica wanted around. He was trying really hard not to feel offended, considering he was just on a date with her the night before.

Veronica looked at him her eyes bloodshot from the sobbing she had done before Lamb showed up, but she said nothing.

Logan looked over in her direction and for the second time today he felt the need to protect her. He had been trying to answer Lamb's questions but since all he knew was that Veronica walked in and found him that way, he was of little help. The only one who could tell Lamb about any cases Keith might have been working on was Veronica, and even then there were no real guarantees that he had told her anything. He grew tired of watching Leo try to coax answers from her and told Lamb he didn't know anything else. When Lamb sighed and sent him on his way he headed straight back over to her. "Ronnie?" he asked softly

Veronica turned to face him but said noting.

"It's ok. You don't have to talk to me." he said softly before pulling her back up against his side. He sighed softly as he felt Veronica lean into his embrace, her entire body shivering slightly.

"Hey, I know you." Leo said suddenly pulling Logan's attention away from Veronica. He wanted Logan to know he was still standing there. He didn't like the way Logan and Veronica were interacting.

Logan looked at him curiously. "Do you?" he asked since he didn't remember who this man was. He was pretty sure he'd never met him.

Leo nodded. "Yeah. I was at the dance _with_ Veronica last night." he said stressing the with. "You made an ass out of yourself and Veronica talked me into ignoring your public drunkenness and the fact that you were underage." he said pointedly while fixing him with a glare.

Logan nodded unsure of why he was getting the disdainful look from the guy. "Well that was mighty nice of you." he said bored before turning back and looking at Veronica. He couldn't help but think that now was not the time to get into a pissing contest with Veronica's boyfriend or whatever this guy was to her. "She's awful persuasive isn't she?" he asked not really expecting an answer.

Leo nodded. "Yeah. I guess she is. She has just about everyone at the department wrapped around her finger. Except for the sheriff of course."

Logan sighed. "Yeah well, Lamb's a moron." he said annoyed. He felt Veronica move out of his embrace and looked to see her walking towards the office again, her eyes as wide as saucers. He followed her line of sight and saw what she had seen; an EMT rolling a body bag out of the office on a stretcher that contained Keith's body. He watched her shoulders hitch and he knew before she made a sound that she was going to break down.

Leo obviously saw the same thing because he got to her before Logan could and tried to wrap his arms around her. He hadn't expected her to shove him off of her before he could barely touch her. She shook her head furiously. Leo sighed. "Ok, ok I won't touch you. I'm sorry." he said in a soothing manner before backing off. He then looked at Logan. He didn't want to leave Veronica, the girl he'd come to think of as his, with Logan but he had to get back to work. "I have to go. Make sure she knows she can call me if she needs anything." he said regretfully before walking off.

Logan nodded, not caring the least bit what Leo had just said. "I think you might have hurt the Barney Fife wannabe's feelings." he said jokingly, "Not that it matters one bit. Your feelings are the only ones that matter right now." he added. He moved towards her hesitantly, not really wanting her to shove him away like she had done Leo. He touched her arm lightly and relaxed when she didn't pull away.

Lamb came up to them and looked at Veronica somewhat awkwardly. "We're taking him to the morgue now Veronica." he said bluntly

Logan balled his fists as he heard a sob rip past her closed lips. Logan looked at him angrily. "What can you tell her about what happened?" he sniped

Lamb looked at Logan curiously. The last time he checked Veronica wasn't even on the 09'ers radar, and now Logan was standing there looking like he wanted to pummel him. "I won't know anything until I get the coroner's report. Then I'll be sure to let her know what I find out."

Logan nodded and watched as Lamb walked off. He turned to Veronica quickly. "I'll be right back ok." he said. He waited until he thought he saw a nod and ran off after Lamb. "Lamb!" he called out causing the sheriff to stop

"Well, what it is?" Lamb snapped after Logan silently stared at him for a long moment.

Logan glared at him. "You know, she just lost her father you could show a little compassion." He was enraged at the amount of insensitivity that dripped from Lamb.

Lamb rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Mr. Echolls, did you need something else? Because if not, I could go start investigating Mr. Mars' death." Lamb snapped

Logan sighed. He didn't want to have ask Lamb this, but Veronica wasn't talking and he knew he needed some help with her. He didn't really know that much about Veronica's friends and who she called family these days. "Look, I'm not really friends with Ronnie anymore. Or I am now, but I don't know who to call or..."

Lamb sighed. "I already called Cliff McCormack. He was close to Veronica and her father. He'll know the answers to all of your questions. He'll be here any minute now." Lamb said for once showing some kind of gentleness towards the situation. He wasn't heartless. Veronica was the bane of his existence but he didn't wish something like this on anyone. He looked over in her direction and saw several reporters headed towards her. He cleared his throat, gaining Logan's attention once more and then pointed over towards Veronica. "She looks like she might need someone over there." he said before walking off

Logan looked over at Veronica and saw the reporters. She had helped him avoid the reporters and the photographers and he intended to do the same for her. He ran back over to her quickly. "Come on." he said holding his hand out to her

Veronica looked at him but didn't take his hand. She wanted to but she felt like she couldn't move a muscle.

"Come on Ronnie. I know you don't want your picture plastered all over the paper tomorrow." he said trying to pull her towards his Xterra.

Realizing he was right she quit fighting him and let him lead her away from the office and the crowds.

He held the door open for her and she wordlessly climbed in. "Lamb said he called Cliff McCormack. I assume you know who that is." he said. When she nodded he added, "He should be here any minute. Until then stay here. The windows are tinted and no one can see in them."

Veronica nodded and opened her mouth like she was going to say something but then thought better of it and closed it. She couldn't find the words she so desperately wanted to say to him.

Logan shut the door and smiled slightly when he heard her lock the doors behind him. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and bumped into someone. He looked up to see Weevil standing in front of him.

"Man what the hell is going on here?" Weevil asked worriedly

"You didn't hear?" Logan asked confused. "I thought for sure it would be all over the news by now. What are you doing here?"

"I went to V's house to drop off her car. It just needed to be jumped. But she wasn't there. So I thought I'd drop by and see if she was here. And when I get here there's all this crime scene tape and cops and reporters..." Weevil started but was interrupted by said reporters

"Logan Echolls! What can you tell us about what happened here today?" one of the reporters asked

"No comment." Logan said mechanically

"How was Keith Mars murdered?" another one yelled

"What!" Weevil yelled, shocked by the reporters claim. He quickly looked around for Veronica but didn't see her anywhere.

"Is it true that his daughter found the body?!"

"Enough!" Logan screamed "Back the hell off of me. I don't know anything! Go find Sheriff Lamb and ask him. And if I catch any of you near Veronica I'm suing you all for harassment!" he yelled storming off with Weevil hot on his trail.

"What the hell is going on?" Weevil snapped angrily "Where's Veronica?"

Logan sighed. "I dropped Veronica off here after the whole Duncan thing, about an hour ago. I hadn't even had a chance to leave the parking lot and I heard her scream. So I came running in here, worried about her, and found her standing in Keith's office. It took me a moment to take my eyes off of Veronica and when I did, all I saw was Keith lying in a pool of blood, with a knife sticking out of his back."

Weevil was stunned. "Someone killed Keith Mars?" he stuttered out when he was finally able to speak. "And Veronica found him?"

Logan nodded. He could see a million different emotions play out over the biker's face, and for the first time ever, he was sure they both agreed on one thing. Whoever did this, whoever took Keith away from Veronica, had to pay.

Weevil shook his head in disbelief. "Where's Veronica? How's she doing?"

"Bad. She's doing really bad." He admitted. "She hasn't said a word since she found him. She's in my car, hiding from the press and waiting on Cliff McCormack to get here." Logan said

"I want to see her." Weevil demanded

Logan nodded before leading Weevil over towards his car. He didn't like that Veronica was so involved with Weevil, but it was obvious that Weevil was actually her friend. He knew that if there was ever a time when she needed all the friends she could get it was now. He opened the door slowly but still succeeding in startling her. "Sorry Ronnie. Weevil wanted to see you."

Veronica turned to look at Weevil and then back at Logan. Her expression hollow.

One glance at Veronica and his heart felt like it was breaking. He instantly spotted the massive bruise on her arm and vowed to make sure Duncan paid for it, regardless of what she wanted. "Hey V. How ya holding up?" Weevil asked earning a groan from Logan, "I know I know. Stupid question." he said nervously. He hadn't seen her like this since Lilly died and everyone abandoned her. It was one of the reason's he'd made an effort to look out for her. That and he knew how much Lilly loved her, and he knew how much he loved Lilly. At a loss for what to say, he held out her keys which she took graciously. "It just needed to be jumped. It's running fine now."

Logan watched her simply nod and turned around when he heard someone asking one of the officers where he could find Veronica. The officer pointed over towards Logan and the guy began walking towards them. Logan assumed and hoped that this was Cliff, because aside from protecting her from media, he really had no clue what to do. He barely had time to move out of the way as Cliff brushed past him to get to Veronica.

"V!" he said worriedly before pulling her to him

Logan watched in shock as Veronica let him pull her out of the car and into his arms. Still she hadn't spoken to him, and she wasn't exactly returning the embrace.

Cliff couldn't believe it when Lamb called him. He didn't want to. Keith Mars couldn't be dead. Keith Mars was an unstoppable force who would never allow himself to die while Veronica was still alive and kicking. Then his thoughts turned solely to Veronica. He watched her struggle through Lilly's murder but he didn't know if she could survive this."I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..." he repeated over and over again for a few minutes before pulling back and looking at her closely.

Logan and Weevil stood silently beside the Xterra. Neither one knew what to say. Logan knew out of the two he was the most uncomfortable, since it appeared that Weevil knew Cliff. Plus Logan didn't exactly spend a lot of time with Veronica or on this side of town. Logan looked back over at Veronica who looked like she was struggling to remain upright. He was convinced if Cliff hadn't been holding her up she'd be on the ground.

"I'm sorry about your mom." Weevil said breaking Logan out of his thoughts. Surprisingly Weevil knew he meant it. When he had found out about those two kids with video evidence of Lynn Echolls jumping off the Coronado Bridge, he'd made it perfectly clear to the twerps that no one ever knew about it. Then he forced them to hand over all copies of the video. He'd offered them all to Veronica, unsure of what he should do with them. She'd taken one, for reason's unknown to him and most likely herself and then instructed him to burn the rest. Which he promptly did.

Logan turned to look at him closely. He could tell the sentiments were genuine. "Thanks."

"This really sucks. I mean first, your mom, now, V's dad..." Weevil said unsure of where the sentence had been going. He sighed sadly as he looked back over at Veronica. He knew this was merely the calm before the storm, that she was in shock. Soon it would all hit her, and he hoped she'd let someone help her, whether it be Wallace, or himself, or even if it was necessary Logan.

Logan simply nodded. It wasn't like the correlation between his mom and her dad was a new thought to him. An uncomfortable silence loomed between the two of them and Logan almost let out a breath of relief when his phone rang interrupting it. Almost, until he looked at the caller id. The last person he wanted to talk to was his father, the very man who'd driven his mother to kill herself. Still he knew that if he didn't answer the call, he wouldn't like the outcome when he finally got home. Aaron had never tolerated being ignored, and Logan knew better than to break that rule.

The phone continued to ring and Logan saw Veronica turn her attention towards him. He shot her an apologetic look before finally flipping it open. "Hello."

"_What took you so long to answer?" Aaron bellowed_

Logan sighed. "I was distracted. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." he said obediently. He ignored the weird look Weevil was giving him.

"_It had better not, now get home. I want to talk to you."_

Logan's eyes darted side to side as he frantically tried to figure out what it was he had done this time. The tone in his father's voice made it clear that he had every intention of punishing his son once he arrived home. He looked over at Veronica who was still watching him instead of listening to Cliff talk. He didn't want to leave her, but he knew he didn't have a choice. "Can it wait a little while longer? I'm actually kind of busy." he asked hopefully.

_Aaron scoffed. "Are you kidding me?"_

Logan sighed. "No sir, it's just I'm with Veronica and..."

"_You think I care what you're doing or who you're with? I said get home." he snarled irately_

Logan knew now that no matter how bad his father had intended his beating to be, it was going to be worse now. "Her dad died..."

"_And what you want to hold her hand so the two of you can cry together?"_

Logan's expression turned to ice. "I'll be home in ten minutes." he said before hanging up. Hanging up on his dad hadn't been smart but it was better than saying what he had been thinking. Telling Aaron Echolls to shut the hell up about his mother and Veronica's father would have only earned him a trip to the emergency room.

He reluctantly headed over to her knowing that despite what had happened today, she'd know something was wrong with him. He quickly plastered a look of indifference on his face before reaching out and touching her shoulder. She had enough to worry about, he didn't need to add himself to her list. "Veronica..." he said softly

She turned to look at him and sighed sadly. Despite his efforts she could still read him like a book. She pointed to a more secluded place and tried to smile slightly as he nodded and led them away from everyone else.

"I have to go." he told her grudgingly, "Dad wants me home. He says he needs to talk to me about something." he added bitterly

Try as she might, she couldn't stop Trina's words from the night before from flooding back into her memory. She was instantly worried about him, and for a brief moment she let her fear for him show on her face. She wanted to beg him to stay with her, but if there was any truth to Trina's words she knew she couldn't, because she knew he would. She didn't want to responsible for him getting hurt. She nodded, unsure of what to say.

"I hate to leave you here. I don't want to." he admitted "You refused to leave me last night until I made you, and I want to do the same for you. I don't want to leave you Veronica. At least when you left me last night I was talking, you haven't said a word in over an hour..."

Veronica reached out and grabbed his hand comfortingly. "I'll be ok." she said softly, her voice cracking the entire time.

Logan smiled slightly. He pulled her into a tight hug, making an effort not to put any pressure on her injured arm. Her arms wrapped tightly around him in return and it didn't seem like she was ever going to let go. He didn't want to admit how happy it made him that she had finally spoken, to him no less. "Promise me you'll call me if you need anything?" he demanded once she finally pulled away from the embrace.

She nodded and smiled at him slightly. She sighed as he reached out and wiped a few stray tears from her face. "Thank you." she said gently

"For what?"

She shrugged. "For helping me earlier today with Duncan. For being here now."

Logan nodded before looking back at his watch. There was no way he was going to be home on time and he found he didn't care as much. He was going to get the beating either way, he might as well stay and make sure she was really going to be ok.

Veronica saw him look at his watch and stepped back away from him. She mouthed _bye_ before turning and walking back to Cliff who'd been joined by Weevil.

Logan nodded and walked back to his car. After getting in and driving off, he hoped that Cliff had the sense to get her inside soon and away from all the cameras.

xxxxxx

It wasn't long after Logan left that Cliff finally suggested they leave the office. She hadn't wanted to leave, but Cliff knew they had to. She hadn't spoken a word since Logan left, and he knew the longer they stayed here the longer her self-imposed silence would last.

Weevil stayed a little while longer, hoping to pry a word or two out of her. He didn't know why she had talked to Logan but he guessed that despite all the bad blood between Logan and Veronica, they both ultimately still cared about each other. He couldn't complain though, at least she had talked to someone. He finally realized she wasn't going to say anything else, that Logan's departure had shoved her further into herself, and decided to leave. He made sure she knew that if she needed him, she could call, and he'd be there in a heartbeat. When she smiled slightly, he smiled back and hugged her slightly, or as much as he could hug someone who wasn't making an effort to hug him back, and then left.

Cliff was still trying to convince her to leave when Wallace showed up. He ran over to her spouting out apologies for not being there sooner. When he threw his arms around her and she didn't reciprocate the motion he pulled back and looked at her curiously. He'd been expecting to find Veronica hysterical, with tears running down her face while she screamed at the Sheriff's department for not doing their jobs properly. He was prepared to deal with that Veronica, he didn't know how to handle a perfectly calm Veronica.

"She's in shock." Cliff explained

Wallace nodded, mentally slapping himself for not realizing that. Of course she was in shock, she'd been the one to find her father's dead body. Wallace looked back at Veronica and it was more than obvious to him that she wasn't even listening to them.

Veronica had, in fact, tuned them out. She was trying to remember what the last thing she'd said to her father had been. She hoped it had been 'I love you' but she was sure it wasn't. She'd gotten a phone call from her mother after returning home from the dance, and she'd made the mistake of telling him about it over breakfast. He hadn't been happy that she was still searching for Lianne and he hadn't wasted any time letting her know it. Finally she remembered her last words to him and she felt like the air was knocked out of her. She couldn't believe the last words she'd ever say to her father were, _'She's in trouble and you don't even care, what kind of person are you?'_.

Shaking her head trying to make the voice in her head, that sounded suspiciously like herself, that screamed at her for being a horrible daughter, shut up. She tuned back into Cliff and Wallace and realized they were both still trying to convince her to leave. Deciding it was easier to just leave then continue fighting them she finally caved and let Cliff lead her to his car.

Once Cliff had shut the car door with Veronica safely locked inside, he turned back to Wallace. "Thanks." he said graciously. He was sure Wallace had something to do with her sudden agreement.

Wallace shrugged, knowing he really had nothing to do with it. "She can stay with me."

Cliff shook his head. He knew Wallace cared about Veronica but he had made a promise to Keith, and he wasn't going to back out of it now. "Thanks, but I promised Keith that if anything ever happened to him that I'd take care of Veronica. She's going to be staying with me for the time being." he said decisively, but then added, "but you're welcome to come with us and stay as long as you want or as long as she'll let you."

Wallace nodded, accepting the compromise. "It's just, I'm kind of the only friend she really has, you know."

Cliff shrugged. "What about Eli Navarro? Despite his criminal record he seems to care about her. I mean he was here, and at any other time she seems to really like him as well."

Wallace nodded and tried to ignore the pangs of regret he felt knowing that even Weevil had gotten here before him. "Yeah, but they're not really close. They just seem to get each other out of the other's messes frequently."

Cliff nodded, but then thought of Logan. "And what about Logan Echolls."

Wallace shook his head defiantly. "No, Logan and Veronica hate, no it's more like despise, each other." he said confused, "They both make it their personal mission to make the other's life hell. Why would you loop him in with a list of her friends?"

Cliff shrugged. He knew Veronica and Logan had their problems but it certainly seemed to him like all was forgiven. "It didn't seem like it earlier. I mean, he was with her when she discovered the body."

Wallace looked at him, his eyes widened, with something beyond confusion. "What? Why?"

"I don't know, but he just left right before you got here. He hadn't let her out of his sight since she found Keith. It certainly seemed like he cared about her." he told Wallace. The look on Wallace's face clearly said he didn't believe him. "And Veronica didn't seem to thrilled when Logan left either. He's the only one she's even spoken to."

Wallace took a deep breath. He was so confused. He couldn't figure out why Veronica would be with Logan at all, let alone why she'd talk to him when she was refusing to talk to anyone else. Even him, her best friend. He was pulled from his thoughts by Cliff once again. "Huh?"

Cliff pointed to the car. "I said are you coming with us or not?"

Wallace nodded. "Oh. Yeah. Thanks." he said before climbing into the back seat.

Cliff got in and looked at Veronica. "You ready?" He sighed inwardly when the only response he got was a simple shake of her head in the negative.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Unexpected (3/?)

Author: Bex81385

Pairing: Logan/Veronica, LOVE

Rating: Somewhere between PG 13 and R

Spoilers: Everything up to Ruskie Business, after that goes completely AU

Summary: An unexpected event shakes Veronica to the core and threatens to bring Logan and Veronica back together.

Chapter Three

Veronica was pretty sure that finding your father slain in his office was not one of those milestones teenagers were supposed to have face. A broken heart or a big dance, sure, but not a dead parent. Then again she was sure seeing your best friend lying dead by the side of the pool wasn't one either. _Someone up there must really hate me_, she thought miserably. She sighed soundlessly as she looked around the room Cliff said she could "take as her own". Veronica had wanted to roll her eyes desperately. No offense to Cliff or anything, but there was no way this room could ever be her's, not when her father wasn't in the room across the hall. She flopped down on the bed and groaned when she saw the "Home Is Where The Heart Is" pillow. _Really hate me._

Cliff hadn't made an attempt to say anything to her once he'd shown her to her room, but Wallace persisted. He followed her into the room and watched as she immediately fell onto the bed. She looked up and over in his direction and sighed. She knew he was waiting for the perfect moment to jump into BFF mode, and she appreciated it. She really did, but she didn't want it yet. She wasn't ready to hear his sympathetic tones and words. She wasn't prepared to deal with his accusatory ones when it came to Logan either. All she wanted was to go home and curl up on the couch with her dad while they watched stupid movies they both claimed to hate but secretly loved. Feeling the bile rise in her throat she rushed to the bathroom to empty her stomach. Once she was finished, she promptly locked the door behind her. She wanted to be alone.

She turned the faucet on to drown out the silence in the small bathroom, and tried to force herself to think of anything but her father. Finally she came up with Logan.

She honestly had no clue why she'd spoken to him and no one else. Maybe it was because he was there when she found her father's... body. Maybe it was because she knew he'd just gone through the same thing, except he hadn't found his mother. In fact no one had, her body was lost to the Coronado River.

She'd heard Cliff tell Wallace that Logan had been with her, and she wished he wouldn't have. She was awaiting his questions axiously. She knew they were coming. They had to be, because as far as Wallace knew she and Logan still hated each other.

So, she knew the questions would come. Not that she would answer them so it didn't really matter. Telling him why she was with Logan meant telling him about what happened with Duncan, and she knew better than that. Wallace obviously hadn't heard about the incident in the hallway or he would have said something to her by then and telling him that Logan had to step in before Duncan broke her arm wasn't on her list of things she wanted to do. She didn't want to deal with that today, not after she'd found her father dead.

She heard Wallace leave the guest room and head into the kitchen. She immediately turned the water off in the sink and darted out the bathroom and back into the room. She hastily locked the door behind her, not wanting Wallace or Cliff to follow her back in. She sighed in relief and lied back on the bed breathing deeply. She kept hearing Lamb's insensitive voice asking insensitive questions, but mostly him asking _"Was he working on anything dangerous?"_.

She hated him even more for the use of past tense, but she knew the question was necessary and there wasn't really another way of asking. She racked her brain, but she honestly couldn't think of anything he'd been working on, especially anything dangerous. She wanted to cry again when it finally hit her. The only violent case they were working on was Lilly's.

She felt stupid. Of course it was Lilly's case. Of course her and Keith's inability to let Lilly's murder go would get him killed. She didn't have time to make it to the bathroom before she vomited again.

xxxxxx

Apparently Logan had not only upset Trina the night before at the Sunset Regent, but she had been extremely embarrassed when they had evicted her from the penthouse for using her stepmother's credit card. At least that was the impression Trina had left with Aaron, earning Logan yet another beating. He'd taken it the way he always did, silently and not fighting back.

Logan had learned early on that fighting back only made it worse, but still, this time felt different. It was the first time Aaron had touched him since his mother died, and Logan's back ached from the pent up aggression his father was finally able to let out. Years of abuse had left many scars on his body but he knew this time the scars would be far worse.

Once Aaron was gone Logan slowly moved into his own bedroom, knowing too many sudden movements would only aggravate his fresh wounds. He was barely alone for a minute before one of the maids entered his room. Logan turned quickly wincing in pain, but let out a sigh of relief when he noticed it was just Ms. Navarro.

It hadn't taken long for Leticia Navarro to realize that Aaron Echolls spent his free time assaulting his son. She wanted to go straight to the police the moment she found out. She knew Keith would believe her, but she also knew that it would be pointless. Aaron had more than enough money and more than enough power, she knew he'd get away with it. Instead she'd taken to caring for the poor boy afterwards. He'd been hesitant to let her, even when she tried to make it clear that she wouldn't tell anyone, but after a particularly brutal beating one night he'd came around to the idea. She assumed he was simply worried about the open wounds getting infected.

Logan watched as she walked into his bathroom getting all of the antiseptics and bandages ready and sat on his bed waiting for her. He could tell she was worried about him, but that she knew there was really nothing she could do about it. He smiled slightly at her as she handed him some aspirin and a glass of water. "Thanks." he said softly

She nodded and moved behind him to begin cleaning his back. She was itching to ask him what happened but decided not to. "Did you hear about Keith Mars?" she asked. Usually she wasn't one to gossip and she knew he knew that, but she was near tears looking at his back and needed to distract herself. Plus, she knew that Veronica had been showing up around here more and more often, so she felt safe in the assumption that her and Logan were trying to patch things up.

Logan nodded and hissed as the antiseptic hit his wounds. "Yeah, I was with Veronica before..."

Leticia sighed sadly. "That poor child. First Ms. Kane, then her father. She deserves so much better than this." she said gently before adding, "You both do."

Logan shrugged painfully. "I'll be fine."

"I'm sure you will be." she said even though they both knew she didn't mean it. She finished cleaning the rest of his injured back in silence only speaking again once she'd finished applying the bandages. "How's she doing?"

Logan shrugged again. "She's not talking, or at least she wasn't when I left her."

Leticia nodded. "She'll talk again when she's ready. She's in shock. It's pretty common."

Logan nodded. "Yeah." he said for lack of anything better to say.

"And you never know, she might already be talking." she added hopefully

"Well, I left her with Weevil, so you'd have to ask him."

She smiled slightly at the mention of her grandson and noted the slightly bitter tone in Logan's voice. She could tell he wanted to be with her instead of here nursing his back. A clock somewhere in the house chimed and she looked down at her watch. "I have to get back to work, are you sure you're ok?"

Logan nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just going to lie down."

She smiled and left the room hurriedly.

Logan watched her go and grabbed at a shirt to pull on. He barely had the shirt pulled over his head when he heard Trina's ridiculously expensive shoes click into his room. He groaned loudly. There was no way he was ready to put up with her. "What do you want?" he snapped angrily.

Trina rolled her eyes at his annoyance. "Keith Mars was murdered." she stated

Logan pulled the shirt down the rest of the way fighting the desire to gasp in pain. He glared at her before realizing he didn't even want to look at her. She was the reason he was in so much pain. Every single breath he took hurt at this point and it was all her fault. Not only that, but she'd single handedly fueled his hope that his mother was still alive. "I hardly doubt they're going to make a movie out of Keith Mars' murder Trina. And even if they did, you're not cute enough or bright enough to play Ronnie anyway." he snapped icily before pushing her out of the room and slamming his door in her face.

He walked over to his bed and laid on his stomach before sighed loudly. _Will this day ever end?, _he asked himself before letting his memory replay the events. He'd never anticipated that the first day after he discovered his mother's death, would be spent taking care of Veronica during her father's. He wouldn't deny he was worried about her, and had been since the moment he saw Duncan's hand wrapped tightly around her delicate and petite arm. Still, he knew as far as Duncan was concerned Veronica could take care of herself. He knew she'd move on from Duncan's assault perfectly fine, but losing her father, that was something Logan knew Veronica wouldn't ever bounce back from.

He'd always known that Keith meant everything to Veronica. She'd given up everything to stand by his side after Lilly's murder and Logan knew she'd do it all over again if she had to. Keith Mars had been the rock holding Veronica together. He always had been.

He'd spent years resenting their relationship, wishing he could have something like what the two of them had with anyone, let alone his parents. Keith was by far a better man than Aaron could ever aspire to be. Keith Mars would never lay a hand on his child, no matter what happened or how angry he was. Logan had spent most of his life wishing someone loved him the way Veronica and Keith loved each other.

Still, Veronica was a fighter, that much was for sure. She was by far the strongest person he'd ever met. She never let anyone tell her what to do and never let anyone or anything hold her back. It was one of the things Logan had always admired about her. She was passionate, and she fought until the very end. Now that Keith was gone, he was terrified she'd let the fire in her burn out, and after a year of watching Veronica turn into who she was now, he couldn't imagine her any other way. He didn't want to.

A loud knock pulled him from his thoughts of Veronica and he groaned annoyed. _If Trina is standing on the other side of that door, I am going to scream_ he thought angrily. He slowly got off the bed and walked over to the door. He opened it with flourish, ready to yell at whoever had interrupted his thoughts but then gaped in surprise when he saw Duncan and Meg standing on the other side.

The rush of anger that coursed through his veins at the sight of Duncan shocked him. He knew he was angry with him, he just didn't realize how angry until that very moment. One look at Duncan's perfectly calm face, not one hint of remorse for his actions that afternoon, and Logan found his hands clenching into tight fists, his nails digging into his palms painfully. He looked at Duncan, while trying to calm his breathing, and waited for him to say something, anything. When he didn't, Logan turned his attention to Meg.

He could count on one hand the number of times he'd had this much interaction with Meg Manning and it was clear she was uncomfortable being there. Still, the look in her eyes was filled with sorrow and pain, and he instantly reminded himself that Meg had done nothing wrong. She didn't deserve the wrath he wanted to express in her boyfriend's direction, so Logan took a deep breath and moved aside.

Meg watched as Logan moved from in front of the door and over to his bed. She supposed it was the closest to a "welcome" they were going to get. She looked over at Duncan, who was still completely silent, and wondered why he wasn't entering the room. Deciding she was tired of standing there and looking like an idiot she pushed past him and headed straight for the chair at Logan's desk.

Duncan watched Meg place herself at Logan's desk and turn her attention back to him. He wasn't sure why they were here, or what Meg thought Logan could tell them about Veronica,or even why Meg had thought Logan would care. He supposed Meg's train of thought made sense, considering they knew from the radio that Logan had been with her when she found Keith, but that didn't mean that he'd stuck around, and it certainly didn't mean that Veronica had used his shoulder to cry on. Sighing, he finally entered the room. He caught another glance at Meg's sad face before he turned and shut the door behind him.

Logan watched as Duncan simply moved to stand over with Meg, and fought the urge to throw him out. Duncan's nonchalance irritated him, and he didn't understand how Duncan could look so calm after the incident in the hallway. It irritated him even more that Meg hadn't kicked Duncan's ass to the curb for the way he treated Veronica, especially since her and Veronica had been working so hard at being friends again.

The room was filled with awkward silence and it was starting to creep Meg out. She wasn't sure what was going on between Logan and Duncan, but whatever it was must have been big. In all the years she'd known Logan, she'd never seen him so quiet and it was really starting to worry her.

When the news of Keith's death had come across the radio waves she'd wanted to call Veronica instantly but thought better of it. She knew Veronica well enough to know that a phone call wouldn't help her deal with anything. Then, the reporter went on to say that Logan and Veronica had found the body.

The thought of Veronica having to be the one to find him made her stomach turn. The very idea that the one person who was with her when she did was the first person who'd wanted to crucify the entire Mars family after Lilly's murder had been too much to take and she'd had to ask Duncan to pull over. The car had barely been in park before she was emptying her stomach on the side of the road. Duncan had simply sat in the driver's side, his demeanor eerily calm, and Meg suspected he was reliving finding Lilly.

"What are you guys doing here?" Logan finally asked. He could tell the silence was starting to bother Meg, and if he was honest the silence was driving him insane as well. "Not that I mind, but if we're all going to sit in silence I'm pretty sure we can all do that alone in our own houses." he added, his voice filled with annoyance.

Meg looked over at Duncan, who still didn't look like he was going to say a word, and finally spoke. "You were there when she found him?" she asked. She knew the news reporter had said it, but they got things wrong all the time.

Logan nodded morosely. He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was hoping he'd negate the statement, but he couldn't, and he knew she knew that. "Yeah."

"Is she ok?" Duncan said suddenly, his voice cracking slightly from prolonged disuse.

Logan shifted his attention to Duncan quickly. Suddenly Duncan's calm facade melted away and all that was written where his blank expression had just been was worry and anguish. Logan had never been so confused in his life. He couldn't figure out how Duncan managed to look so concerned for Veronica's well being, when just hours ago he was trying to break her arm. "Are you sure you're really in the position to ask me about Veronica?" he snapped before he could stop himself

"What is that supposed to mean?" Duncan snapped bitterly

Logan looked at him in disbelief. "I'm sorry, do you not remember assaulting her in the hallway this afternoon?"

"What are you talking about? I would never hurt Veronica."

Logan gaped at him. He couldn't believe that Duncan had the nerve to sit there and pretend like this afternoon hadn't happened. "I had to pry your hand off her. You almost snapped her arm like a twig, Duncan! How can you sit here and pretend like you didn't?"

"I.. I didn't... I didn't touch her..." Duncan tried. His heart was racing and he was racking him brain trying to remember what Logan was talking about. He looked over in Meg's direction hoping for some backup but the look on her face told him he was on his own.

"Duncan..." Meg interjected softly. Once she had his attention she continued. "The whole school was talking about it. I just figured they were exaggerating."

"They weren't." Logan barked

Duncan shook his head vehemently. "No..."

"A lot of people saw. The three of you weren't exactly discrete." Meg reasoned

Duncan sighed sadly. The simple fact that he couldn't remember what they were talking about was enough to tell him he'd had another one of his episodes. The thought that he'd actually physically hurt Veronica made his stomach turn violently. "I.. I don't know... She's ok though, right?" he finished lamely trying to ignore the disappointment and disgust written plainly across his best friends face.

"You mean her arm?" Logan asked

Duncan nodded. He didn't trust his voice to say anything.

"Her arm is fine. Bruised, but that's it." Logan replied bitingly

"I didn't mean to hurt her." Duncan admitted

"You're just lucky Veronica's more forgiving than..." he trailed off before. He didn't have to finish the sentence out loud. He knew they knew he was implying he wasn't as forgiving as Veronica. "She's ready to write the entire thing off like it didn't happen at all. Maybe later when things calm down the two of you can have a fake amnesia party or something..." He said sarcastically, his nails beginning to embed in his hands again.

Meg was tired of listening to them argue. She regretted asking Duncan to bring her here already. Still, she needed to know how Veronica was. "So... Veronica... how is she?" she asked hoping to gain Logan's focus. "I heard on the radio that she found him in the office, with a knife in his back." She shuttered as she remembered thinking that the radio's description of the crime had been far too graphic to be broadcast the way it was.

The color drained from his face, and disgust at himself crept in. He couldn't believe that he was sitting here arguing with Duncan about the hallway, while allowing himself to forget about Veronica's dad. "Yeah, it was pretty gruesome. I imagine it's going to take a while for her to get that visual out of her mind." Logan admitted honestly. He was actually worried about that. When his mom died, he never saw her afterwards. He could still picture her dressed up, ready for a party or something. Veronica, however, didn't have that courtesy. Her last impression of her father was face down in a pool of blood, something he knew, would haunt her in her dreams for here on out.

"She must be devastated." Meg said sadly as her stomach flipped once more

Logan nodded. "She's not talking. At all." he said. There was no reason for them to know that she was, in fact, talking to only him. "Not even to that Wallace kid she hangs with."

Meg looked over at Duncan waiting for him to say something, but he didn't appear like he was going to. "She's not alone now is she?"

Logan shook his head. "No, when I left she was with Cliff McCormack. I guess he's some friend of Keith's."

"Yeah, he's a lawyer, or something. Veronica and Keith work with him from time to time." Meg said informatively

"Between him and Weevil I'm pretty sure she got away from the office before it became a three ring circus." Logan admitted. Despite his affection for Weevil's grandmother, Logan had never really warmed up to Weevil. Still, if Weevil's actions for the last few months proved anything, it was that Weevil cared about Veronica and would protect her with his life. Logan had felt fine leaving her with him.

"You left her with Weevil?" Duncan snapped suddenly joining the conversation

Logan nodded.

"Why would you leave him with her? He practically lives in a jail cell."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Veronica trusts him."

"Please..." Duncan said rolling his eyes in disbelief "Veronica doesn't trust anyone."

"Well who's fault is that!?" Meg snapped indignantly while looking back and forth between the two of them. She felt bad when Logan's gaze immediately fell to the ground in shame. She let out a sigh and turned to look at him apologetically. "I'm sorry." she said gently before looking over at Duncan. "She trusts Weevil, and he trusts her. He'd never let anything happen to her." Meg said defending Logan's decision

"What were you doing with Veronica anyway?" Duncan demanded

Logan shook his head angrily. "I was trying to calm her down after you nearly broke her arm." he yelled

"You two have been spending a lot of time together lately." Duncan pointed out

"What's your point?" Logan snapped furiously.

The room once again fell into an uncomfortable silence, and Meg knew they should go. Logan was obviously still far too upset with Duncan for them to be in the same room, and she could tell he was still really worried about Veronica. Being with Veronica when she found her father had obviously done a number on him, and she understood that Logan probably needed to be alone. She was about to say they should leave when Logan's ringing cell phone cut her off.

Logan pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked curiously at the caller-id. The number shown wasn't one he recognized, and he contemplated not answering it. Then he realized that if he didn't, he'd have to go back to the dead silence that had fallen over his room. Making a choice he flipped it open and pressed it up to his ear. "Hello?"

When no one answered him he sighed annoyed. "Hello?" he tried again, thinking the caller might have not heard him the first time.

This time he was rewarded with an answer. "Hi."

Her voice caused nervous waves to ripple throughout him. He realized suddenly that he'd been hoping it was her; that the only person he really wanted to talk to wasn't his best friend, but her. Logan looked down at the floor, wishing once more that he was still alone in his room, lying on his stomach. "I should have known it was you." he said gently. He was answered with silence and had to bite back a slight laugh. "You know... you called me..." he said in as much of a joking tone he could muster up.

Veronica sighed. "I know. I just... I don't... I... are you alone?" she finally asked

Logan looked up from the floor and at Duncan and Meg. "No. But I can be." he said honestly.

"Who's with you?" she asked curiously

"Duncan and Meg. Why?"

Veronica shook her head. "Nothing, nevermind..." she said quickly

"What is it?" he asked. He knew she probably just wanted to talk, and he could do that for her, no problem.

"You're busy."

"No, I'm really not." he reassured

"You have people over." she pointed out

"And..."

"It's just...I hate to ask you..."

"Ask me." He interrupted. "What do you need?"

She caved. "Can you... I need to... can you just come get me please?" she asked pleadingly

He thought of the lashes and deep wounds on his back that were still excruciating, and nearly said no, but he'd known from the moment she called that no matter what she asked, he was going to say yes. If Duncan and Meg hadn't been there, he'd already be out the door. Plus there was no way he could say no to her when she pleaded with him the way she had. He quickly stood up, ignoring the curious looks from Meg and Duncan, and grabbed his keys. "Sure, where are you?"

"Cliff's." She said relieved. "But I'll meet you somewhere else."

"Why?" Logan asked confused. "I can come there... it's no problem."

"For you maybe, but I have to sneak out. Wallace is watching me like a hawk."

Logan laughed a little. Leave it to Veronica Mars not to worry about what she needed and be more concerned with hurting her friend's feelings. "Ok, where?"

Veronica paused for a long moment, thinking.

"You still there?" Logan asked

Veronica nodded. "Yeah, um... how about the library? You do know where the library is don't you?"

"Big brick building, filled with books and old librarians?"

"That's the place."

"Yeah, sure. I'm not a complete moron."

"Says you." she said slipping into a comfortable banter with him. She shook her head, immediately feeling guilty for it.

Logan smiled at her half hearted attempt at a quip. "When do you want me to..."

"Ten minutes? Is that ok?"

Logan nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."

She took a deep breath. "Thank you."

Logan smiled again. "You're welcome. I'll see you in ten minutes."

"Logan!" she called out before he could hang up

"Yeah?"

"Please don't tell anyone you're coming to get me. I don't... I don't feel like being around a lot of people. Come alone."

Logan understood. When his mom died he hadn't wanted a to be around people either. "Ok, ten minutes." he said before hanging up. He looked back at Duncan and Meg, and knew they knew he'd been talking to Veronica. "Sorry to cut this fun-fest short but I have to go."

"I thought you said she wasn't talking?" Duncan said, his tone accusatory.

Logan shrugged and headed towards the door. Meg followed him but Duncan remained perfectly still in the middle of the room. "I never said it was Veronica on the phone." Logan pointed out

"Fine, then who was it?"

"Not that it matters or is any of your business, but would you believe me if I said Trina?"

Duncan looked up and saw Trina pass the open door. "No. Not really."

Logan sighed. His patience was wearing thin. All he wanted was to get out of this house. "Duncan..."

"Why would you lie? She's obviously talking to you."

Meg sighed. She could tell Logan was getting more frustrated the longer Duncan stood in his room, stopping him from leaving. "Duncan, it doesn't matter. Logan's right. It's none of our business. Let's just go."

Duncan rolled his eyes and stormed past the pair, pushing Logan backwards at the same time. Logan fought back a groan as his back collided with the door jam. He ignored a look on Meg's face that suggested she might have known exactly what he was hiding beneath his shirt. "Thanks." he told her, "for stepping in there."

Meg shook her head. "No problem. Tell her if she needs me I'm here."

Logan nodded. "I will."

She moved past him and into the hallway. She waited for him to shut his door and then they both moved to go downstairs. They were almost to the bottom of the staircase when she reached out and grabbed Logan's arm. "I don't know what's going on with you two, I mean, like Duncan said you've been spending a lot of time together, but I just need to know that you're going to protect her."

"Protect her?" Logan asked confused

"From the rest of the 09'ers. They don't exactly let personal tragedy stop them from acting like jerks."

"Meg..."

"I know you lost your mother, and now she's lost her father. It makes sense that the two of you would want to help each other work through it. I can understand the need for the two of you to be close right now. The rest of the 09'ers... they won't... and you know it." she said worriedly. She knew how awful things could get for her friend and she just needed some reassurance that Logan wasn't going to get bored in a few days and throw her back out to the lions.

"I think you might be reading to much into this whole thing Meg. This is just a cease fire. I'm sure in a few weeks we're be back to making each other's lives hell. She was there for me, I'm just returning the favor. This doesn't change anything." he said defensively, while trying desperately to ignore the fact that he knew he didn't mean any of it. What was worse was that he could tell she didn't believe him either.

"Logan... just promise me you won't let them hurt her."

Logan held up his hands in surrender. "No one is going to hurt a hair on her head. I swear."

"I just..."

"Meg." Logan snapped. "I won't let anyone hurt her. OK. If anyone wants to hurt her, they'll have to go through me, and I'm not going anywhere." he reassured

Meg smiled and nodded. She turned away and headed towards the front door. She knew Duncan was probably sulking in the car waiting for her. "You should go, she's waiting on you." she called out to him.

"Do me a favor." Logan requested

Meg turned around and looked at him curiously. She didn't think that Logan had ever asked her for a favor. "What?"

"Distract Duncan for a few days. He'll want to talk to her about the almost breaking her arm, and that's the last thing she needs right now."

She heard Duncan honk the horn and rolled her eyes. She would do what Logan asked but she still needed to know what exactly had happened in that hallway. Obviously Duncan wasn't going to be forthcoming, and she couldn't ask Veronica. "I can do that if you explain the hallway scene for me, please."

Logan sighed. "I'm not sure what happened. All I know is what Veronica told me and what I saw. She said they were arguing over me showing up at the dance last night drunk and half naked. He apparently thought that one conversation with Veronica in a hotel lobby was going to make me get over my mom killing herself." he said pausing when he heard her scoff. "She stormed away from him and I walked up when he grabbed her arm. She kept trying to pull away and his grip just kept getting tighter. I had to literally pry his fingers from around her. She was whimpering, and I've never seen Veronica whimper. Ever..." he said slowly. He felt an involuntary shutter run through him as he remembered the scared look in her eyes.

"Ok, so..." she started but was cut off by Duncan honking the horn again. "Never mind. We'll talk later." she said before rushing out to meet Duncan.

Logan sighed and looked down at his watch. He was supposed to meet Veronica in less than five minutes. "Shit." he said to no one but himself before leaving the house.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Unexpected (4/?)

Author: Bex81385

Pairing: Logan/Veronica, LOVE

Rating: Somewhere between PG 13 and R

Spoilers: Everything up to Ruskie Business, after that goes completely AU

Summary: An unexpected event shakes Veronica to the core and threatens to bring Logan and Veronica back together.

Chapter Four

It wasn't hard for Veronica to sneak out of Cliff's apartment. All she had to do was climb out the window and crouch past the living room windows. She'd accomplished much more stealthy escapes in the past year, but Cliff and Wallace were still none the wiser. She moved as fast as her feet would carry her to the library, thankful that it wasn't very far away. She reached the library with a minute or two to spare, but thankfully didn't see Logan's SUV yet. She sat solemnly on the stairs and prepared to wait, hoping no one noticed her.

She pulled her knees up flush against her chest and rested her head on them. She didn't mind waiting for Logan, not one bit; it was the silence that was getting to her. In the silence, there were way too many voices inside her head, all talking at the same time, all saying the same thing. _You're a horrible daughter._ She sighed and lifted her head to look at her watch. Finally five minutes later she saw the Xterra pull up.

Logan saw her crouched in a ball on the steps of the library, a huddled mess. He felt his chest tighten as he saw her breath hitch and she finally looked up at him. He recognized the effort to put a smile on her face, and tried to send her one back. Both failed and they both knew it. He rolled his window down. "Sorry I'm late. I had a hard time getting away from Duncan and Meg." he admitted

She shook her head. "It's fine." She felt bad for dragging him away from his friends, and she was sure it was because he was suffering the same way she was, but she felt better when she was with him.

He sat behind his wheel for a long moment waiting on her to get in. When it didn't look like she was planning on moving he spoke again. "You coming?" he asked

She nodded and moved from her space on the steps and to the other side of his SUV. She opened the door and quickly climbed in. She watched as Logan turned the Xterra back on and put it in drive. She looked confused for a moment when he turned to her, unsure of what he wanted. She groaned inwardly as she realized how stupid she was being. _Of course, he's waiting on __you tell him where we're going, _she thought to herself. "Can you take me somewhere?" she asked quietly

Logan nodded. "Anywhere. You name it."

"Dad's office." she requested.

Logan's gaze whipped off the road and to her. "Are you really sure that's a good idea Ronnie?"

Veronica shook her head lightly. "No. I'm actually positive it's a very bad idea. But I have to look for something and no one else would think or know to look for it."

"But... I just don't think..."

"Logan, either you take me or I take myself." she said determinedly, "I didn't really want to go alone, so I called you, but if you don't want to go then say the word. Pull over and let me out, I can go by myself."

Logan sighed and paused for a moment.

Veronica looked at him in shock. It seemed as if he was actually considering letting her go alone. When a few more moments passed and he still hadn't said anything, she cut her eyes at him. "Just let me out here." she snapped

Logan wanted to smile at the anger her voice held. She'd been so passive, and even though she had every right to be he couldn't ignore how much more like herself she seemed now that she was growing indignant. "Did I say I wasn't taking you?"

"You didn't say you were taking me either, did you?"

"I'm still driving aren't I?" he asked smiling

xxxxxx

They both remained sitting in the truck after pulling into the back lot of the office, neither one anxious to get inside. Finally it seemed that Veronica had bolstered her courage, and quickly exited the truck. Logan was quick to follow her, and now they both stood perfectly still in front of the building's back door.

He watched her stare at the door as if it was going to strike any minute and bite her. He could see her hesitating, her resolve wavering, her hand reaching out several times for the doorknob, and pulling back every time. Five minutes passed before she finally opened the door. He'd expected her to step in immediately but her feet seemed rooted to the ground. "Veronica..." Logan started, "if you're not ready to do this we can always come back later..."

Veronica shook her head and stared into the office. "I can do this." she said almost inaudibly before she finally walked in. She didn't even realize she was holding her breath until Logan jostled her as he shut the door behind him, and she'd been forced to release it.

Logan watched as she walked over to her father's desk, her eyes never making contact with the blood stained carpet. He couldn't help but wonder how she managed that because he was having a hard time not looking at it. He scanned the room in its entirety, looking for nothing in particular, before turning his attention back to her. He was surprised to see her going through the desk, but he wasn't sure why since she'd told him she had to look for something when he picked her up.

Veronica hastily jerked the drawers on the desk open and began looking through the files. She felt Logan's eyes on her, but refused to let his scrutiny stop her from meticulously searching for Lilly's file. After going through them each one by one she moved furiously to the file cabinet across the room. After exploring all four drawers she slammed the fourth one shut angrily. "Strike one." she mumbled softly. She looked around the room once more and caught Logan's eye. He looked confused and worried and for a moment she felt really bad for leaving him in the dark and not telling him exactly what she was looking for. She pushed the thought of telling him away before striding out to her own desk and her own file cabinet, the entire time forcing herself not to think about the bloodstain she'd just passed.

Logan watched as she haphazardly searched through the files. He could tell she was getting more and more frustrated when she started throwing the files behind her once she realized they were clearly not what she was looking for. Veronica had always been organized and the act of throwing the files on the floor and not putting them back in the cabinet was strictly out of character dor her. He looked around the office at the files strewn everywhere and sighed. "You know, if you'd tell me what you're looking for, I could probably help you."

Veronica froze. There was no way she could tell him she was searching for the file they weren't supposed to have regarding Lilly's murder investigation. She wasn't even sure if he'd believe her anyway, and there was always the possibility he'd be really angry to find out they were still investigating it in the first place. She shook her head quickly. "No. It's ok. Just... um... go and make sure no one comes in or anything."

Logan hesitated briefly before turning and doing as she asked.

Veronica look back into the cabinet and realized it was now empty. "Strike two." she said before heading back into her father's office. She froze in the doorway, this time unable to stop a vision of her father sitting behind the desk from flashing across her mind. The last time she'd seen him sitting behind his desk he'd yelled at her for refusing to let Lilly's case go, and she'd yelled back, calling him a hypocrite because he couldn't let it go either.

Tears welled in her eyes and before she knew it they'd fallen down her cheeks. She heard Logan moving around near the door and shook her tears away. She didn't have time to break down. She took a deep breath composing herself before heading to the safe.

After standing in front of the door for ten minutes Logan grew bored. He sighed tiredly before turning to head back to Veronica. He walked into Keith's office and found her digging through the safe.

"Damn it." she yelled in frustration before slamming the safe door shut. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to find Logan looking at her curiously. She slumped to the floor next to the desk and immediately her eyes were drawn to the bloodstain she'd been so good at avoiding. "It's not here." she mumbled inaudibly

Logan looked at the disaster that was Keith's office and frowned. "What?" he asked when he thought he heard her say something.

Veronica shook her head. "It's not here." she said her voice stronger this time.

Logan's brow furrowed in confusion. "What's not here?"

She shook her head, ignoring the question. She wasn't even sure she knew how to answer it. "Can you take me home?" she asked softly

"You want to go home?"

She nodded.

"It's not a good idea Veronica. It's too soon." he tried to reason. He'd caved on the office, but he wasn't about to take her home.

"Please." she pleaded, her puppy dog eyes in full effect.

Logan sighed. He'd never mastered the ability to say no to her when she looked at him like that, no matter how much he wanted to. "I'm assuming the same logic as before applies still?" He didn't want to take her but he didn't want her to go alone either.

Veronica shook her head. "No. I can't go there alone."

"And you're sure that's where you want to go?"

Veronica nodded.

Logan nodded and reached a hand down to help her up. "Ok then, let's go." he said softly.

Veronica smiled slightly and reached out for his hand. He pulled her up and Veronica tried not to notice that he didn't let go of her hand, and instead intertwined their fingers.

"For the record, this is a bad idea." he said before leading her out the office.

xxxxxx

Walking though the front door of the apartment proved to be much more difficult than the back door of the office, but then again, Logan knew it would be. Considering this was the last place Veronica had seen her father alive, it made plenty of sense that she'd be hesitant to return. He felt a squeeze on his hand and looked down. He hadn't released her hand the entire time he was driving over here and but had to let go when they got there so she could get out of the SUV. He wasn't sure if it had been him or if it had been her that had reached out for the other's hand once they were both standing in front of the door, and he was surprised at the lack of discomfort he felt simply holding her hand. He squeezed back gently, and made no attempt to extricate his hand or un-thread their fingers.

He reached out for the keys she was holding and took them from her. He slowly unlocked the door but left it closed. "We can go in whenever you're ready. Take all the time you need."

After standing there for five minutes, Logan thought she might change her mind and back out. However, before he knew it he felt his arm being pulled and Veronica was rushing them both inside the door. Once they were in she quickly locked the door behind her and turned to Logan.

"Before I lost my nerve." she explained, "Like ripping off a band-aid."

Logan nodded. He understood, and he knew she knew it as well.

They weren't in the room long before Back-Up came barreling through the room in their direction. Instantly feeling guilty for having forgot about Back-Up, she let go of Logan and embraced the anxious dog. She continuously gave the dog her undivided attention until the dog noticed Logan.

Logan smiled warmly at the dog who'd always been fond of him and reached out to pet him lovingly when he made his way to him. "Hey boy." he said playfully, "Does someone have to go out?"

Veronica's eyes widened. "I'm such a bad pet owner, of course he has to go out."

Logan shook his head. "You have other things on your mind right now. Give me his leash, I'll take him." Logan offered

Veronica sighed. "You don't mind?"

Logan nodded. "Terribly, that's why I offered." he joked

Veronica rolled her eyes and threw the leash at him. She would never admit it but his sarcasm made her feel better. "Thank you." she said before leaving the room.

Logan laughed and attached the leash to Back-Up. "Come on boy."

xxxxxx

Veronica moved slowly into her father's room. The room looked as if it had been ransacked, and if her father wasn't such a slob, Veronica would have suspected it had been. The bed was unmade, there were clothes all over the floor, and his scent lingered throughout the entire room. Feeling tears prickling in her eyes, she wanted nothing more than to climb into his bed, wrap herself up in his scent and never move again. Still, she knew she had things to do. She had to find that file. She moved to start searching through the clutter but heard Logan reenter the apartment.

Logan released Back-Up just in time to see Veronica exiting a room. Judging by her bloodshot eyes, he assumed it had been Keith's. "How are you doing?" he asked even though he knew it was a stupid question

She shrugged. "Make yourself at home." she said softly, "Just don't touch anything... or move anything... or..."

"Breathe?" he asked sarcastically

She sighed. "Sorry. Just follow me." she said heading back towards her bedroom. She shoved her head in the door quickly surveying it for embarrassing or incriminating items. Finding none she pushed the door open all the way and led him in. "You can wait in here. I won't be long, I promise." she said honestly. She had no desire to be here any longer than necessary. He'd been right. Coming home this soon had been a very bad idea, and if it wasn't for Lilly's missing file she doubted she'd have ever entertained the idea at all.

Logan nodded. "Is there anything in here I can't touch?"

She'd known he was kidding but that didn't make her answer any less serious, and she knew he knew it. "My laptop." she said before backing out the room.

Logan sighed and looked around the room curiously, anxiously searching for evidence of the Veronica he used to know before Lilly's death. He thumbed through her cd's, wondering if her musical taste had changed at all. He was pleased to find that it hadn't. Her taste in music had always surprised him considering how innocent and naive she'd been. He'd always assumed she'd be the type of girl who bobbed her head along to bubble gum pop, especially since, for the most part, Lilly had been that type. Veronica, however, had drummed to a different beat on that front and her style more or less resembled Logan's. Still, signs of Lilly were scattered throughout the collection. He smiled as he brushed past a Veronica's album. He remembered Lilly giving it to Veronica only a week before she died. Lilly had been ecstatic at the find when she'd come across it. She'd instantly told Veronica that she couldn't _not_ own a cd that literally had her name on it. Logan had laughed while Lilly pouted when Veronica had told her that she could if the cd blowed.

He left her cd's and looked around the room again this time his eyes catching on the wall of philandering spouses. He moved closer and was surprised to see how many people he knew currently residing on the wall. Still, he hadn't been surprised to see his father there. The picture that surprised him most was Jake Kane, especially since the picture that earned him clearance on the wall of adultery contained Veronica's mother as well.

He turned to look around the room again and spotted her laptop. He couldn't help but wonder what she had on there that she was so intent to hide. A loud crash from across the hall sounded loudly throughout the room and he immediately turned towards the door. Another loud crash had him rushing out to check on Veronica.

xxxxxx

She didn't think she could have done more damage to the disaster area that had been her father's room, but looking around at all the strewn boxes and files, it was evident she had. She'd searched every corner of the room, knowing that if the file was here in the apartment it would be in his room. There would have been no chance he'd have left it anywhere else, for fear of her actually finding it. She'd emptied the safe as well and still couldn't find Lilly's file anywhere. It was becoming more and more clear to her that the file was gone. She doubted he'd have destroyed it, he'd spent far too much time and energy investigating her best friend's murder, so the only reasonable explanation for it's disappearance was that someone else had taken it.

She pushed down the urge to scream, her rage nearly overpowering every other aspect of her personality. Instead she slumped down onto the floor banging the back of head against the wall lightly. She looked around the room again and couldn't help but flashback to the argument she'd had with her father that morning.

"_She's in trouble." she screamed at her father with tears in her eyes._

"_Veronica, your mother can take care of herself."_

"_She called me..."_

"_She called you?" Keith asked shocked, "When?"_

"_Last night. She called my cell phone, she was upset."_

_Keith sighed. "She was probably drunk Veronica."_

_Veronica glared at him. "She's in trouble, and you don't even care. What kind of person are you?" she yelled before storming out of his room. She hadn't bothered to say another word to him, she'd simply gotten dressed for school. When she went to leave she ignored him as he told her he loved her, and slammed the front door behind her._

She dropped her head into her hands and started bawling. The voice was right, she was a horrible daughter. She hadn't even told him she loved him too, she'd just left. She heard footsteps and knew Logan had once again entered the room. She didn't even look up at him when he sat down next to her.

Seeing Veronica like this was harder than he thought it would be. "Ronnie..."

"It's gone." she mumbled, "It's not here." she said slowly before breaking out into sobs all over again.

He wasn't sure what she was talking about but he found it didn't really matter. He pulled her into his arms and let her cry against his chest, while rubbing her back soothingly. Agreeing to bring her here had been a horrible idea, and he knew he shouldn't have done it. He murmured false platitudes, repeating 'It's ok, it's all going to be ok...' over and over again, even though he doubted he was getting through to her. "What's going on in that head of yours?" he asked softly

Veronica pulled away and looked up at him tiredly. "It doesn't matter. You won't believe me."

Logan shook his head. At this point he was sure that no matter what she told him, he'd believe her. "Try me."

Veronica shook her head quickly. She knew there was no way she could handle having to convince Logan that Lilly's killer was still out there. She felt tears flood her eyes once more and she sighed angrily. She hated letting him see her this way, this weak, but at this point it was taking everything she had in her to keep breathing. She could worry about keeping up appearances later. "I can't." she finally whispered before turning away from his gaze.

Logan nodded. He could only hope that she would trust him and tell him eventually. He stood up and held out a hand for her. She accepted it and moved to sit on Keith's bed.

Veronica sat on his bed silently. She'd hoped to find Lilly's file, but it wasn't until now that she realized she'd been hoping to find something else as well, solace. She'd thought being around her father's things would help her feel less awful about the way things ended between them, but it hadn't. She looked up at Logan who was watching her carefully. She knew he'd understand that aspect of her grief. She was sure it was that same search for solace that had led Logan to believe his mother was still alive in the first place.

She knew that if anyone could rationalize what was going on in her head it would be him, and for a moment she thought maybe he'd understand the stuff about Lilly as well.

"We need to get out of here Ronnie. This isn't a good place for you to be right now." Logan said in a soothing voice. He didn't like how pale she looked and he didn't think she could possibly still be hydrated after all that crying. He felt Veronica nod into his chest briefly before sitting up off of him. He brushed the hair off her face gently so that he could see her eyes. He forced himself to ignore the strange feeling of intimacy the moment had created and turned his attention back to her. "I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but you'll get through this. You're the strongest person I know."

Veronica didn't know what she was supposed to say to that so she simply nodded. Logan stood up and reached down for her, so she reached up and took the hand he was offering. Once she was standing up she expected him to let go, but was surprised when he simply threaded his fingers through hers.

Logan squeezed her hand reassuringly and pulled her behind him out of Keith's room and into her own. He stopped in front of her bed and sat down, pulling her back down with him. He released her hand when he felt her head lean onto his shoulder, but only so that he could wrap his arm around her shoulder to hold her closer. Once they were situated in a comfortable position he leaned his own head against the top of hers. "You can trust me." he whispered across the top of her head.

"What?" she asked while lifting her head to look at him

"Whatever it is that you think you can't tell me, that you think I won't believe, if you decide to tell me, you can trust me. I'll keep your secrets."

Veronica sighed. "I'm not worried about you telling anyone."

Logan nodded. "I won't leave you either. I promise. You're stuck with me now Ronnie."

She smiled slightly and leaned back on his shoulder. "Poor me." she said sarcastically. She knew he was right, she could trust him. She just wasn't sure he could hold up the other promise. Still, she'd never know until she tried, and the worst that could happen is uncomfortable conversation. She knew he wouldn't leave her right now. She sighed, knowing it was now or never."I was looking for a case folder. It's about L..." she started only to be interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. She reached for it immediately and sighed again once she realized it was Cliff.

Logan groaned inwardly. She'd been about to tell him what was going on in her head; what was worrying her so much besides her father's murder and her damn phone rings. "Who is it?" he asked curiously

Veronica handed the still ringing phone to Logan. "Cliff. Talk to him." she said softly. "I'm going to pack some clothes." she explained before walking over to her closet.

Logan looked at the phone carefully for a second as it was going to bite. He wasn't sure if Cliff would be angry at him for helping Veronica get away from his house or not. Finally he flipped the phone open and placed it to his ear. "Hello."

"_Who is this?" Cliff asked confused_

"Logan." he replied easily

"_Why are you answering Veronica's phone?"_

"Because I have Veronica here with me and she asked me to answer it."

"_She asked you? Does that mean she's talking?" Cliff asked hopefully_

Logan shook his head, despite the fact that he knew Cliff couldn't see him. "No not really. I mean not much. A word here, a phrase there." he said unsure if Veronica really wanted them to know she was talking to him.

_Cliff sighed sadly. "How is she?"_

Logan shrugged. "I don't know. Not good."

_Cliff sighed. "What's she doing?"_

"Packing some clothes."

"_You took her to the apartment!" he yelled angrily_

"Hey! Don't yell at me!" Logan snapped, "I'm the one who said this was a bad idea. She insisted."

_Cliff sighed again. "I'm sorry. I'm just... stressed." he said apologetically_

"It's fine."

"_So I just spoke to Lamb and the coroner's report is ready. I went looking for Veronica and she wasn't in the guest room..."_

"You want me to bring her to you?" Logan asked

_Cliff shook his head. "Actually can you meet us at the Sheriff's office?"_

"Hold on." he said before heading towards Veronica. "Ronnie?" he said softly

She looked away from her closet and at him. "Yeah?" she asked her voice barely audible. The crying had done a number on her voice, and she was getting slightly hoarse.

"Cliff says the coroner's report is in. He wants me to take you to the Sheriff's office." he said gently. He felt a twinge in his heart as her face contorted in sadness. "It might help if you know exactly what happened."

"How could it possibly help?"

"Once you know what really happened, you can start to deal with it."

Veronica nodded. "Give me five minutes." she said sadly "Now go away so I can change."

Logan nodded. "Sure." he said before walking out of the room so she could change. "She said give her five minutes."

"_I heard her." Cliff said smiling slightly "So she wanted to go the apartment huh?"_

"The office too."

"_Really?"_

Logan knew Veronica was going to be angry with him, but he knew someone needed to know what was going on with her. "Yeah. So... um... listen... I'm sure she's going to be pissed because I told you this but she destroyed the office."

"_She what?" Cliff asked shocked._

"Keith's room too. She's looking for something."

"_What?"_

"I don't know what, she won't tell me. Any ideas?"

_Cliff wiped his face tiredly. "No. No clue." he said honestly_

Logan nodded. "Ok well, I'll drop her off in about five minutes." he said before hanging up the phone. He smiled lightly as he saw Veronica leave her room and head back in his direction. "You ready?"

Veronica nodded and looked around the living room. This was the last place she'd seen her father alive and happy. She wished she could see him that way now. A shudder ran through her body as she felt Logan's arm wrap around her and pull her against him. "Thank you." she said softly

"For what?"

She looked at him knowingly and knew he knew exactly what she was thanking him for. She heard a bark and turned to look at Back Up. She couldn't believe she had forgotten him again. She wanted desperately to take him with her but she knew there wasn't room for him at Cliff's. "Logan?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked hesitatingly

Logan nodded. "Sure."

"Can you take Back Up home with you?" she asked quickly. "There isn't room for him at Cliff's and he can't stay here by himself."

Logan sighed. "You know Trina's allergic to dogs right?"

Veronica sighed. "Oh, no I didn't know that. Never mind then I'll just..."

"It's fine. It means I can make Trina miserable, and Back Up won't be cooped up in this apartment. It's a win win in my books."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I mean, won't your dad be angry?" She didn't want to ask him to do something that would get him in any more trouble.

Logan nodded. "It's fine Veronica." he told her reassuringly. He grabbed the dog's leash from where he'd left and called for Back Up. He put the leash on the dog, wrapped an arm around Veronica and led them both to the door. "Come on."

Veronica glanced back around the room once more before letting Logan lead her out of the apartment and to the Xterra.

AN: The rest of the rewrites will be up this weekend... Let me know what you think about the rewritten story you guys...


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